The Way It Should Be
by bibleboymary4ever
Summary: One shot future fic. Rory and Jess are just having a normal after work dinner, until he drops a bombshell. Will he leave her again or will they stay together forever? Literati.


Title: The Way It Should Be  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls, Yale, Harvard, the NYT or National Geographic. My dads a lawyer so don't sue me.  
  
AN: The hugest thanks in the world goes out to Helen!!!! Thank you so much for helping me work out all the kinks and for all of your kind encouragement. Thanks to Loz, Lola, Katherine, Lauren & Summer!!!  
  
Dedication: This fic is in honor of the Literati party at the ORG forum and was written expressly for this occasion. Enjoy Lits! :D  
  
Rory Gilmore dexterously pressed the delete key on her black laptop, as she suddenly realized the sentence was wrong. No wait-the paragraph was wrong, oh who was she kidding it was all wrong! She inwardly groaned as she moved the document to the trashcan.  
  
A knock sounded at her office door. "Come on in!" Rory said tiredly.  
  
"I come bearing food."  
  
She raised an eyebrow at her long time boyfriend, "And Coffee?"  
  
"Depends."  
  
"Meanie."  
  
"You know, you turn more and more into Luke as the days go by."  
  
"Well he's a better influence than Jimmy."  
  
Jess and Rory were silent for a moment as they remembered their years apart, the years she dated Tristan at Yale and while she worked her way up the ladder at The New York Times and the years he spent living with his deadbeat father in California, making up his senior year in high school and working as a photographer there. But that was behind them now and now they were happily together, the way it should be.  
  
Jess tore his gaze from Rory and cleared his throat.  
  
"I brought burgers, fries & coffee."  
  
"OH! So that's why I'm dating you!"  
  
She smiled at him contendly, taking the paper bag from his arms.  
  
Tearing the wrappers off the food and biting into the burger, Rory said thoughtfully, "So, Mr. Fuller gave me this article to write on the day in a life of an average person. But what's really the average person in New York City? I mean seriously, so many people live here and work here! Where in the city would they live? What would their job be? So I found all these statistics and took all these notes.."  
  
Suddenly, Rory notices that Jess' mind is clearly elsewhere.  
  
"Are you okay?" She says quietly, giving him a peck on the lips.  
  
"What?" He quickly shoots back, "Ermmm yeah."  
  
"Penny for your thoughts"  
  
"Aren't they a little more valuable than that?" He chuckles.  
  
"Well you're not a hooker!" She giggles, "That is unless you're not telling me something."  
  
"I was just thinking about when I left you."  
  
"Jess-"  
  
"No Rory, let me talk."  
  
"Jess, we've been through this before. We were eighteen! Everybody does naive things when they're young. So you didn't say good bye! Big whoop! We're together now. Unless...Jess, are you breaking up with me?"  
  
"Of course not! Rory, I was thinking about goodbyes because I was recently given an opportunity I can't pass up. Ror, National Geographic wants me to take photographs in Malaysia."  
  
"So you're just going to leave again? Without a trace? Don't bother telling anyone where you're going for several months?" Her bottom lip quivered with fear, fear of what her life would be like without him. She had done it once and she certainly did not want to do it again.  
  
"Hell no. I want you to come with me."  
  
Lorelai Leigh Gilmore had always known what she wanted to do in life. Growing up, her goals had always been going to Harvard and making it as a reporter. Havard wasn't right for her, but Yale was a better school anyway. She had made it as a reporter, she was an associate editor at the New York Times. She loved Jess from the bottom of her heart, but was she willing to give it all up, all those things she had worked for her whole life?  
  
Jess Mariano fumbled in his jeans pocket for the now familiar smooth leather box. Tightly closing his fingers around it, he swallowed hard. He had bought the simple Tiffany etoile ring seven months ago, long before he received the assignment. Jess had never really had any direction in life, but no matter where he ended up, he was always directed back to her, back to his one true love, back to Rory.  
  
Jess looked at her and popped open the box revealing a gorgeous square diamond set in platinum. Rory gasped and looked at him slightly puzzled.  
  
"Ror, some big romantic proposal with me on one knee complete with roses, candles and champagne just isn't my thing. Let's face it, I couldn't even say "I Love You" until our second time around, so I'm sorry if you miss the thousand daisies. But I do.love you that is and frankly I'm willing to do anything for you. So just say the word and I won't go to Malaysia. Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, you have already taken my heart, so will you do me the honor of doing it officially and marrying me?"  
  
"Of course." Rory said assuredly.  
  
Jess Mariano and Lorelai Leigh Gilmore were joined in holy matrimony on August 24, 2011. 


End file.
